Restaurant portion sizes are huge

[Paq]

Does anyone else find this? Went to a pub/restaurant last night and the portion sizes were insane. I managed a third of my salad, brought the rest home and shared it with DH for lunch today. DD got through half her curry and 6'1" hollow legged DH just about managed to finish his risotto but then felt overstuffed all night.

It doesn't give you grounds to decide what is right for most people though, nor decide that people who do eat standard restaurant portions must be wrong/eat too much etc. Plenty of people are capable of managing their food intake across a day or a week and just because they don't do it your way, doesn't make them wrong.

I don't. All I have advocated is choice over portion size.

@Paq

Also, for your critique, I found a picture of the offending salad on their trip advisor reviews. Although I think mine was bigger. Also a picture of the Thai green curry.

I'm sorry I just don't agree that is a large salad. The fact that you stretched it to one dinner and two lunches is beyond the pale.

The calories are in the houmous and guacamole so you'd probably want to watch how much of that you eat.

I'd be very happy to be served that. Nothing annoys me more than ordering a salad and getting three leaves, two cherry tomatoes, a slice or two of cucumber and a couple of bits of pepper and being charged £££ for the privilege.

There are hardly any calories in salad. They probably include all four blobs of houmous, guacamole, etc. as you might not like all of them and will choose to leave one or two. Funnily enough, you don't have to clear your plate.

If you were talking about a huge double burger stack with cheese and bacon, a mountain of onion rings and a pile of triple fried chips I'd be inclined to agree with you but you're not.

I'm 50, 5' 4" and have averaged 9.5 stone most of my life. I've never been overweight. I'm active but not a fitness freak. I cook from scratch a lot but still have the odd takeway or ready meal. All the people I have known who have trouble with their weight obsess about what they eat, what, how much, how many calories and so on. It's a constant dialogue. In the morning talking about what they're going to eat at lunchtime, a dialogue when that's happening and then in the afternoon talking about what they are going to eat at dinnertime then repeat.

I find people going on about portion sizes and calories when you go out to eat very uptight and frankly pretty boring. If I fancy something stodgy I don't particularly want the diet brigade tutting at me. What is right for you isn't necessarily right for everyone else.

My friends who have cancer are all slim and sporty though. Weight is a contributing factor only in some case, no?

Yes, there are lots of other factors regarding why people get cancer. But that doesn't stop being overweight/obese being one of the factors the scientific community have outlined.

@LauraFlashley mine was larger than the picture, it was served on the blue plate in the curry picture. It's not just about calories, eating non-calorie dense food also makes you feel full!

I find people going on about portion sizes and calories when you go out to eat very uptight and frankly pretty boring

They wouldn't have to if there was a choice of portion. Most of the contention arises out the possibility of sharing mains or having to order off menu which feels more normal if more people do it.

Thankfully my DH and DS are happy for me to offload a portion of my food to them, they understand my needs and have a calorific burn rate practically double of mine just by blinking!

I don't. All I have advocated is choice over portion size
You have because you've repeatedly decided what is right for most people based how you think people should eat and what you think is acceptable for people to eat.
One second it's smaller portions because you've decided half the population don't need standard restaurant portions, then it's that meals out are all for 6foot tall men, then it's not a smaller portion you want it's that you want some parts of the plate smaller so the rest can be filled with salad and non-starchy veg, again based on what you think is right for others.

It's great that you've found an eating pattern that works for you, but throughout your posts there's a distinct thread that anyone eating a typical restaurant portion must be eating too much, contributing to the obesity crisis, doesn't need to eat that much, and so on.

@LolaSmiles, I think you are projecting that onto me. I have made reference to daily calorific needs averages and pointed out restaurants and pubs serve portions too big for a majority of the population. But that's just fact. Look it up, it's not rocket science.

I don't judge what other people eat unless they invite me to although if they say a restaurant portion is absolutely ideal for them and they're a similar physique to me I might ask them what their secret is! I do get frustrated with people who infer or outwardly say people who want a choice of a small portion is just plain weird or has an eating disorder!

Here, this calculator gives a good idea of calorific burn rates for different physiques:

tdeecalculator.net/

And I was just looking at a pub menu where a Piri Piri Chicken burger meal was 2456 cals, beef and ale pie, 1512 calories. Pretty large meals?

Not projecting at all grasstreeleaf. That's from your posts.

Even in this post you seem to think there's some secret they must have if someone is smaller build and eats a restaurant portion. It couldn't be that they simply know how to manage their food intake for their body, or they enjoy a restaurant meal but don't do it often, nope there must be a secret they have because they don't do things your way.

I'm of the view that people can choose to allocate their daily food how they see fit and people are more than capable of eating based on how hungry they are. They can also choose where to eat based on whether places have portions that match their preferences. If someone is routinely finding it impossible to find anything small enough for them then it's probably because their portion preferences are out of step with most people. In those situations they can order starters or order a main and only eat what they want.

If someone is routinely finding it impossible to find anything small enough for them then it's probably because their portion preferences are out of step with most people. In those situations they can order starters or order a main and only eat what they want.

So you're saying I'm weird? And so are other people who find restaurant/ pub portions generally too big for them. We should order pretty much off menu. Even though a huge percentage of people are overweight or obese in this country....

Or you expect us to waste food. And it's not a good idea for eating establishments to routinely offer smaller portions...

There is no way that salad would do me 3 meals. I’d have that and want some bread on the side for the hummus. Even if it was bigger than pictured, that doesn’t scream excessive portion to me.

As has been said I think for businesses they have a rough cost that allows them to meet overheads etc, although more ingredients means a slightly higher price, when you're talking about starchy carbs it's not much at all, and so it's seen as amount equals good value. I think they're called meze dishes, the small ones? Me and my friends usually order some of them between us if we go out as its a great way to have variety without a tonne of food. Also agree that taster desserts would be good as an option rather than a slab of £5 cheesecake that can't finish (although used to be the case that most profit came from desserts)

Yes! I'm a big fan of Meze & Tapas on a night out. Have as much as you want (or don't want) order more if you need, no diet-shaming/no fat-shaming: sharing food like that is very social. We could learn a lot from our Mediterranean friends.

@grasstreeleaf

And I was just looking at a pub menu where a Piri Piri Chicken burger meal was 2456 cals, beef and ale pie, 1512 calories. Pretty large meals?

Calorific doesn't necessarily = large portion. It can be a calorie-rich sauce, for instance.

I don't find restaurant portions to be that big really, but I do try to balance the calories by eating less the days around the meal, as they are often higher in calories than home cooked meals.

So you're saying I'm weird? And so are other people who find restaurant/ pub portions generally too big for them. We should order pretty much off menu. Even though a huge percentage of people are overweight or obese in this country....
Here we go again on it all apparently being personal with a side order of "but what about obesity".

When I eat out I find there's a range of portions sizes depending on where I eat out, whether I I to a cafe or restaurant, whether I go to a pub grub pub or a gastropub, or fine dining restaurant, or whether I go for an early bird light bites dinner. Within those categories each place has its own portion size.
There's some places I don't go because they are heavy on the chips. There's some places I don't go because I think their portion sizes are small for the cost and the food is no better quality than another place. There's some places I don't go because their mains don't come with vegetables or sides and it works out quite pricey to add them on. There's a lot of variation out there.

In light of that, I said that if someone is routinely finding that it's almost impossible to find a portion small enough for them then the likelihood is that it's their portion preferences that are out of step with the majority. It's not saying you personally are weird. It's pointing out that businesses run their business based on their target market and they'll run in a way that is good for business.

If it was good for business for everywhere to run grasstreeleaf's preferred portion sizes, and grasstreeleaf's preferences on vegetables and salad then that's what most businesses would do.

Same here NoWordForFluffy, but that sort of common sense doesn't go too far on here.

The idea that people might be capable of regulating their food choices over a period of time and enjoy a standard size meal out is mind blowing.

@LolaSmiles

So you're saying I'm weird? And so are other people who find restaurant/ pub portions generally too big for them. We should order pretty much off menu. Even though a huge percentage of people are overweight or obese in this country.... Here we go again on it all apparently being personal with a side order of "but what about obesity".

When I eat out I find there's a range of portions sizes depending on where I eat out, whether I I to a cafe or restaurant, whether I go to a pub grub pub or a gastropub, or fine dining restaurant, or whether I go for an early bird light bites dinner. Within those categories each place has its own portion size.
There's some places I don't go because they are heavy on the chips. There's some places I don't go because I think their portion sizes are small for the cost and the food is no better quality than another place. There's some places I don't go because their mains don't come with vegetables or sides and it works out quite pricey to add them on. There's a lot of variation out there.

In light of that, I said that if someone is routinely finding that it's almost impossible to find a portion small enough for them then the likelihood is that it's their portion preferences that are out of step with the majority. It's not saying you personally are weird. It's pointing out that businesses run their business based on their target market and they'll run in a way that is good for business.

If it was good for business for everywhere to run grasstreeleaf's preferred portion sizes, and grasstreeleaf's preferences on vegetables and salad then that's what most businesses would do.

Smaller portions are out of step as a huge chunk of the population is overweight or obese. Eateries exist to make money rather than having some sort of moral obligation regarding people's weight I agree, but profit over health is a bit part of the issue overall.

Puglub
Or because many people manage just fine to enjoy a meal out and don't eat like that at home all the time. Most people don't eat out all the time and so aren't consuming restaurant food most of the time.

It's not the role of restaurants and pubs to regulate people's food intake.

I had a macdonlds in a service station when I went on holiday. It's not macdonald's job to shrink their burgers just in case I didn't realise that a burger has more calories than my normal lunch. When I went for Sunday lunch yesterday, it's not the pub's responsibility to decide whether it's appropriate for me to eat 2 or 3 roast potatoes because some other people might feel the need to be annoyed that they'd rather have more broccoli.

When we go out at the weekend, we buy ice cream from the ice cream van but don't normally keep ice cream in the house. Should we have a tiny ice cream because other people don't want a generous scoop and want to try and use the fact others are obese to push their personal eating preferences?

@LolaSmiles

Puglub Or because many people manage just fine to enjoy a meal out and don't eat like that at home all the time. Most people don't eat out all the time and so aren't consuming restaurant food most of the time.

It's not the role of restaurants and pubs to regulate people's food intake.

I had a macdonlds in a service station when I went on holiday. It's not macdonald's job to shrink their burgers just in case I didn't realise that a burger has more calories than my normal lunch. When I went for Sunday lunch yesterday, it's not the pub's responsibility to decide whether it's appropriate for me to eat 2 or 3 roast potatoes because some other people might feel the need to be annoyed that they'd rather have more broccoli.

When we go out at the weekend, we buy ice cream from the ice cream van but don't normally keep ice cream in the house. Should we have a tiny ice cream because other people don't want a generous scoop and want to try and use the fact others are obese to push their personal eating preferences?

Yes I do, because it all contributes to huge and gluttonous portions appearing to be normal, when they're not. Why not offer smaller meals as well as bigger meals so there's less waste?

Excellent so in a panic about some people being overweight a standard scoop of ice cream from an ice cream van needs shrinking because enjoying an ice cream from an ice cream van is contributing to gluttonous portions.

Maybe it would be better to look at food education, healthy eating for most, looking at eating habits in the home, having appropriate support services to deal with those who have mental health and emotional reasons that affect overeating, rather than being the food police in eateries and expecting everyone to eat in a food police approved way.

That salad lasting 3 meals is crazy talk. Majority of it is vegetables, not massively filling ones either. There's no way that would be described as a massive portion too big for an average person to finish.

Looks nice though.

@LolaSmiles

Excellent so in a panic about some people being overweight a standard scoop of ice cream from an ice cream van needs shrinking because enjoying an ice cream from an ice cream van is contributing to gluttonous portions.

Maybe it would be better to look at food education, healthy eating for most, looking at eating habits in the home, having appropriate support services to deal with those who have mental health and emotional reasons that affect overeating, rather than being the food police in eateries and expecting everyone to eat in a food police approved way.

Well no, the ice cream you can choose how many scoops you have, but in a restaurant you pay a set price to have a mountain of food, there doesn't tend to be an option aside from leave and waste the stuff you don't want. There isn't really choice on portion size which is the issue.

I don't think I've ever seen a 'huge and gluttonous' portion in the U.K.! I've definitely never left any food when I've had a meal out!

Meals out aren't likely to be the sole cause of the obesity problem in and of themselves.